How the NB2300 non boiler steamer was developed

We are constantly looking at steamers and seeing what other companies are selling. We carefully look at and sometimes talk to the different manufacturers to see if the steamer will be a good choice for Auto detailing or other industries. In many cases, the steamers are fine for light duty applications as their prices usually suggest, but some fit the bill for car washing and detailing. However, performance comes with a price in a number of ways

Size of the steamer

Many high performance steam cleaners are big and bulky. They take up a lot of room and they are generally about 170 pounds or more. These are machines that need permanent placement either on a truck or in a shop location. Sure, they may be advertised as “mobile”, meaning they have wheels and can be rolled around, but try to get a steamer this large in or out of a van, or a pick up truck by yourself. Even with a partner these steamers are difficult to transport and move around from location to location

How the steamer is powered

The higher pressure and higher volume steamers are powered or heated via diesel, propane or LPG gas, or high voltage and high wattage electricity. Heating a steamer with propane or diesel is fine if you are working in an outside environment and you do not have the issue of venting the machine of the exhaust gas. Also these are the machines that are much bigger in size and weight and can be a problem for some users. So we did not want to get involved with steamers such as these

We needed to have a higher pressure, high heat, and high steam volume and wetness so it would be easier to wash a car. But we also needed it to be run on 120 volt electric. This was a huge challenge as we saw in developing the Vapor Chief 180 a couple of years ago. But the problem with 120 volt electric is wattage. In North America, we are limited in the amount of watts we can power any electrical machine with. This puts us at a disadvantage compared to other countries and their technology. In other countries where 240 volt electric is the norm, sending a huge amount of watts to power the machine and get it to heat fast, have high power and pressure and high volume is not a problem. In North America this is a huge problem. There has never been a truly powerful 120 volt car wash steam machine…..until now!

How long will it take to heat?

Another problem with boiler technology and the limited amount of watts with 120 volt electric is heating time. A boiler steamer can take a long time to heat. The smaller boiler steamers will still take up to 10-12 minutes to heat. A bigger boiler steamer can take 20 minutes or more on 120 volt electric. This is fine if you plan your jobs correctly and turn the steamer on “before” you actually need it. But in those cases where you need the machine almost immediately, what can you do? Well, with the non boiler technology, that problem is solved ad the NB2300 takes only a maximum of 3 minutes to heat from a cold start. Once it’s heated and develops pressure and everything gets hot, the recovery time back to full pressure is only 30 seconds to 1 minute!

Cost of the machine

Well, we can’t give that information away here. You will have to call us for pricing information. But we assure you, for the power you get with this machine, the price will blow you away compared to other steamers that can wash the exterior of a car. Sure some parts are expensive to manufacture, but other parts that are commonly seen in a boiler steamer have been eliminated which actually cuts the cost

Steam volume

Many other steamer companies advertise “dry vapor steam”. This is correct. The steam is mostly dry with only about 5% water content. In many cleaning situations this dry steam is preferred. But in washing a car it’s nice to have more volume of steam or what we call a “wet” steam. The smaller boiler steamers can only produce dry steam, so that’s how they are marketed. A car wash steamer, or a higher pressure and higher volume steamer can be adjusted from not only that “dry” steam that you need to clean interiors and other items where too much wetness will be messy, but this technology and this NB2300 steamer can go to a very “wet” steam which gives more water content to help rinse areas that need more flushing to wash away grime and heavy dirt. But there is a delicate balance to be made. We have found that many of the wet steamers are wet for good rinsing abilities, but cannot be made dry enough for more delicate cleaning where “wet” isn’t needed. This limits the uses ability to use the machine for many different purposes. This was another challenge for us

Researching the options

In my search for a machine that would do a great job at washing a car and be a little less expensive than these other choices, I found a manufacturer that had a great video and an interesting concept. Of course the video showed high powered steam doing a great job on a car. But they were using the machine like a pressure washer or a hose to “wash” the vehicle. The recent technology of “waterless” wash products such as Optimum No Rinse means that a car does not need a vast amount of water to pre rinse and post rinse. What you are using the wetness or volume of the steam for is simply to blow out dirt in cracks and crevices and get it to areas where the waterless or polymer type washing product can do the cleaning. High volume and high pressure steam also a does a nice job in rinsing wheels, door jams and wheel wells but steam alone will not clean well. In videos where you see a user washing a car with “only” steam and “only” a micro fiber towel, is technically incorrect. You will scratch the car this way. You need the polymer or waterless product in conjunction with steam and a micro fiber towel.

So in essence when is saw this machine in action I knew it was more than powerful enough to wash a car along with the Optimum No Rinse and other cleaning methods. I also knew this steamer would work extremely well for other cleaning environments and other cleaning industries. I saw other videos from other companies and they all had the same thing in common. The machines were large in size and weight. And they all were powered with diesel fuel, propane gas, or 240 volt electric at high wattage. This frustrated me as I knew I needed a steamer with these specifications. And would you agree that if you had a steamer with these specifications you would seriously consider buying one???

On my wish list was the following

• 120 volt electric steamer
• high pressure steam that held good pressure when in use
• high volume steam
• wetness or volume adjustment of the steam
• a small size body for easy transportation
• a light weight steamer to move around easier
• a long and heavy duty steam hose
• a heavy duty gun
• brush attachments for interior and exterior use
• the ability of the machine to be delicate but also powerful
• a fast heat up time
• a fast recovery time to full pressure
• easy to use and repair if needed
• a reasonable price

But much of this was wishful thinking. I knew that their steamer with 240 volts or diesel would be far more powerful than a 120 volt machine. But I inquired anyway to see what they had and what this new technology was about, and if possible could it be made in a 120 volt version

This is where we started

I inquired about the machine and truthfully I did not even expect and answer to my inquiry since I knew I was so far away. I was not certain if the people I were inquiring to even spoke English. But I inquired anyway. And sure enough….within 1 day….I received a very pleasant response from one of the owners and engineers of the company. He very politely thanked me and explained who he was. After exchanging a few more emails about whom we were and what we did, we started discussing steamer technology. I inquired if his existing machine could be made in 120 volt. At the time it was 240 volt only.

They were in the process of building a 120 volt steamer but he prefaced the statement by saying that it would not have nearly the power and steam volume of the 240 volt unit. I knew that would be the case, but I insisted that a steamer in North America needs to be 120 volt and I gave him examples of other steamers that were poor, fair, good and great in 120 volt. But NONE of these machines were excellent at car washing as they had a very low steam volume and wetness. But he was in the process of building it, so I was anxious to see what the first results would be. He also wanted to know what my specifications would be and he would try to adapt them.

A Good star

He explained that the new 120 volt steamer had a wet dry steam adjustment and that he would take videos of the steam in both modes. I saw the first videos and I was pretty intrigued at the wet steam volume but it was still not quite good enough on the wet side but also a little too wet on the dry side. These initial steam outputs would make it difficult to clean both the inside and the outside. We discussed how to get the steam wetter for exterior cleaning but also drier for interior cleaning. I had to have it both ways or I knew the steamer would not be popular. The problems I have both seen and heard with the other steamers that were currently available for exterior cleaning were that the wet steam was great, but the dry steam was still too wet. Therefore, many detailers have told me that they simply did not, and could not use the machine for interior cleaning. This was not an option for me, so I explained this to him and the team of engineers and we worked on improving that.

We also worked on improving and tweaking other areas that were not quite to my specifications and liking. I originally thought I was being too demanding and too forward in asking for these modifications, but they appreciated my knowledge and expertise in steamers and what the American market needs, so they tried their best to accommodate me.

We spoke on the phone a number of times and considering the time difference we were able to make it work for both of us. We emailed every single day on progress and what was needed to make this a better 120 volt steamer. We discussed electrical requirements and how many amps and watts could be used here in the USA, as well as the size and shape of the body, the hose length, nozzle and tip sizes, gun sizes and configuration, how to adapt brushes, grab handles, hose type and material, heat and pressure produced, how to repair and fix the machine if there were any problems, and so much more

Luckily we both understood metric and standard units of measure so we knew exactly the specs that the machine produced and we did not get confused. So we generally spoke in metric terms of centimeters and meters, inches and feet, quarts and gallons, liters and liters per hour, temperature in both degrees and centigrade, weight in pounds and kilograms, etc. We made sure we were always on the same page. I gave him readings and he gave me readings and we kept working at it. We looked at other machines on the market and discussed technology and how they operated. We discussed every little detail that went into making this machine. Sometimes emails read like book chapters and phone conversations were 1 hour and more. We exchanged videos and pictures to make sure this machine was almost a perfect proto type BEFORE I even received the first one here

My machine arrived

My prototype machine was the same one I had seen in his pictures and videos. I basically knew it from head to toe even before I used it for the first time. The when I plugged it in and finally got to see it in action for myself, I was skeptical but very hopeful about how it would perform. Even as skeptical as I was in thinking that it would still need many more improvements, I was dead wrong! The machine performed far better than I had thought it would and I went into test mode myself for a number of days. We still emailed and discussed minor improvements and talked about what the machine did in certain situations and I learned even more about this new Non Boiler steam technology. I used it hard and put it through its paces but it has been a phenomenal machine. We did improve and change just a few minor things from the proto type steamer, but it did not need much.

How it compares to others

We have found that this 120 volt steamer certainly is the MOST powerful 120 volt steamer in the world! We would challenge any other steamer to try to outperform the new NB2300 in pressure, heating time, heat produced, steam volume and adjustment, recovery time, hose length, and overall size and weight. By looking at this machine you will never think its this powerful, but that is the beauty! Its small in size, but a little steam monster! And it is built to last. The components that were manufactured, engineered and sourced are only the best available. We would not bring it here if we did not think it would be a commercial duty steamer. Don’t let the size fool you. This technology proves that you do not need a large steamer that is very heavy and is powered by diesel or propane to be a powerful car wash steamer

We also know that if this steamer can help wash a dirty car; it will surely work in other dirty environments and cleaning situations. To have a 120 volt steamer this powerful is revolutionary! There never has been a steamer this powerful before in 120 volt. We would also compare this steamer to many of the 240 models that are also out there in power and volume.

We know you need a machine to run on 120 volt electricity. If you need even more power, sure we have the 240 volt version, but in many cases it will not be needed. You can use this machine ANYWHERE! Indoors or outdoors and it can be carried around anywhere you need it. We are extremely excited and proud to be involved in this technology. We think this is the wave of the future in steamers. We are also working on an even smaller unit right now but that’s not quite ready yet

Please take some time to view our videos and give us a call at 888-302-6400 and we will be happy to tell you even more. Don’t buy another steam until you fully investigate this one.